5.  The first, second, third, fourth and fifth applicants were born in 1974, 1980, 1980, 1957 and 1979 respectively. The third applicant lived in Hajdukovo, whilst all other applicants lived in Subotica.
6.  In the course of 2006 and 2007 numerous robberies took place in the municipalities of Bačka Palanka, Bačka Topola, Bački Petrovac, Bečej, Kula, Novi Sad, Odžaci, Senta, Sombor and Vrbas (in northern Serbia). The main targets were older persons and some of them suffered grievous bodily harm. One such robbery took place in Kucura, a village in the vicinity of Vrbas, on 5 November 2007 at about 8 p.m. Shortly thereafter a police patrol noticed what it deemed to be a suspicious vehicle near that village. Whilst they managed to arrest another person, PN, according to the Government, the first, second and third applicants escaped. The next morning the fourth and fifth applicants allegedly went to give them a lift back to Subotica. A police patrol, however, stopped them before they entered the town. All five applicants were then arrested and taken to the Novi Sad Police Station.
7.  On 6 November 2007 the investigating judge ordered that DNA samples be taken from the applicants. Later on, the fifth applicant was released.
8.  On 7 November 2007, in their separate reports to their superiors, the police officers involved in the above-described operation stated that the applicants had resisted arrest and/or tried to escape, which is why force had had to be used and the applicants had sustained some injuries. In particular, the first and third applicants had excoriations on their foreheads, the second applicant had “redness on his forehead (above his eyebrows) as well as around his right eye”, and the fourth applicant had an “excoriation on the left side of his head (temporal bone)”. Concerning the first and the third applicants, the reports noted that they were not provided with medical assistance since they never asked for any. Officer VD is also referred to as having been injured by the second applicant in the course of arrest.
9.  On 8 November 2007 the first, second, third and fourth applicants were taken to the investigating judge. They complained, in the presence of the public prosecutor, of being beaten by the police during arrest and whilst in the Novi Sad Police Station. The investigating judge also noted the injuries sustained by the second and fourth applicants respectively. In particular, the second applicant’s injuries included two excoriations and one laceration on the left rear side of his neck, while the fourth applicant’s injuries included bruises on his left shoulder and his face. With the authorisation of the investigating judge, the applicants’ lawyer took photographs of their injuries. The fourth applicant was then released, whereas the first, second and third applicants were remanded in custody on suspicion of having committed numerous robberies and in view of the severity of the potential sentence and the nature of the crimes alleged (under Article 142 § 2 (5) of the Code of Criminal Procedure; see paragraph 38 below). The investigating judge stated that the crimes in question had all been committed in a similar manner, specifically that: (i) the assaults had occurred during the night; (ii) the victims were elderly people who had been living alone; (iii) overwhelming physical force had been used against them, resulting in some cases in serious bodily harm; and (iv) the victims had been left behind tied with ropes in their own homes.
10.  On the same day the police held a press conference about this case. Reportedly, some of the highest-ranking officers at the Novi Sad Police Station referred to the applicants as members of a criminal group which had committed the said robberies. Also, the police apparently informed the journalists that the local population had been so alarmed that they had already started setting up “village guard units” (seoske straže) for their own protection (see Građanski list, a daily newspaper published in Novi Sad, 9 November 2007, p. 13). The photographs of the first, second, third and fourth applicants were released to the press.
11.  Pursuant to an order of the investigating judge of 13 November 2007, the first, second and third applicants were medically examined on the same day. According to the medical report: (i) the first applicant had bruises and/or haematoma on the back of his head, left auricle, arms and legs; (ii) the second applicant on his forehead, left auricle, neck and legs; and (iii) the third applicant on his forehead, right shoulder, back and left foot. The fourth applicant did not attend the medical examination because he had apparently returned to Subotica. His injuries, however, were documented by the photos taken on 8 November 2007 and consisted of bruises and excoriations on his left shoulder, his back and his abdomen.
12.  On 29 November 2007 the fifth applicant gave a statement to the investigating judge to the effect that she had been slapped in the face by the police upon arrest on 8 November 2007.
13.  On 13 December 2007 the fourth and fifth applicants asked the investigating judge to inform them whether their DNA samples were still kept and, if so, to order their destruction.
14.  On 29 February 2008 the public prosecutor issued an indictment. The first, second and third applicants, as well as PN, were charged with 14 robberies and 3 attempted robberies. The second applicant was also accused of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to resist arrest. On the same day the public prosecutor decided not to prosecute the fourth and fifth applicants.
15.  On 11 June 2008, at the oral hearing held before the Novi Sad District Court, the third applicant stated, inter alia, that on 8 November 2007 he had shown his lawyer “the injuries sustained whilst in police custody in Novi Sad”. He further recounted that in the course of arrest “no force had been used against him”.
16.  On 22 September 2008, pursuant to an order of the presiding judge, an additional medical report on the injuries sustained by the first, second and third applicants was produced. It stated that the injuries recorded on 13 November 2007 had been inflicted by “the repeated use of mechanical force”. The possibility that they had been caused by a fall was ruled out. Concerning the time-line, the first, second, and third applicants’ injuries would appear to have been sustained some three, seven and three days, respectively, prior to 13 November 2007. The report, however, stated in its introduction that there were no clear-cut stages in the temporal evolution of a haematoma. Lastly, the report considered the photographs taken of the first and second applicants’ injuries and concluded, inter alia, that there were some additional injuries recorded on 13 November 2007 compared to those shown on the photographs. Regarding the third applicant, there were discrepancies between the two. Most injuries, however, were registered on both occasions and some additional injuries were recorded on 13 November 2007.
17.  On 10 July 2009 the Novi Sad District Court found the first and the third applicants guilty of 13 robberies and 4 attempted robberies and sentenced them to 14 years and 6 months’ imprisonment respectively. It found the second applicant guilty of 13 robberies, 4 attempted robberies and causing grievous bodily harm to a police officer with intent to resist arrest and sentenced him to 15 years’ imprisonment.
18.  On 1 March 2011 the Novi Sad Appeals Court quashed the first, second and third applicants’ convictions and ordered a retrial. In its reasoning, the court noted various procedural deficiencies and described the impugned judgement’s reasoning as “incomprehensible”. The first, second and third applicants’ detention, however, was extended based on the same grounds as before.
19.  On 11 November 2011 the, now renamed, Novi Sad High Court again found the first, second and third applicants guilty and imposed the same sentences as earlier. In its reasoning, it referred to, inter alia, the medical expert’s findings of 13 November 2007 and 22 September 2008, as well as the statements given by the police officers involved, and concluded that the injuries sustained by the first, second and third applicants had been caused due to their attempts to resist arrest and/or escape from the police. The High Court lastly noted that following their admission to the District Prison on 9 November 2007, as regards the first and third applicants, and 12 November 2007, as regards the second applicant, the prison doctor had: (i) found no injuries concerning the first applicant; (ii) stated that the second applicant had been suffering from anxiety; and (iii) confirmed that the third applicant had had haematomas on his back.
20.  On 4 June 2012 this judgment was upheld by the Appeals Court.
21.  On 9 August 2012 the first, second and third applicants filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court, alleging numerous substantive and procedural violations. These proceedings are still pending.
22.  On 28 December 2012 the first, second and third applicants were released from further serving their sentences in view of the general amnesty granted by the Serbian Parliament.
23.  On 5 December 2007, 4 February, 4 March, 1 April, 30 May, 30 July, 1 October and 1 December 2008, 30 January, 1 April and 1 June 2009 the Novi Sad District Court extended the pre-trial detention of the first, second and third applicants in view of the severity of the potential sentence and the nature of the crime alleged. The legal basis and the reasoning in all these decisions, in so far as relevant, corresponded to the reasoning and legal basis of the detention order issued by the investigating judge on 8 November 2007 (see paragraphs 9 above and 38 below).
24.  After their appeals had been rejected by the Supreme Court on the same basis, on 18 June 2008 and 6 July 2009 the third applicant lodged two separate constitutional appeals. In its decisions of 25 December 2008 and 8 October 2009, respectively, the Constitutional Court considered, among other things, whether the grounds and reasons for his pre-trial detention satisfied the requirements of a constitutional right equivalent to Article 5 of the Convention and decided that they did. In its decision of 25 December 2008, in the context of the constitutional appeal’s timeliness, the Constitutional Court examined the detention orders issued between 8 November 2007 and 30 May 2008 and concluded that they should be considered jointly (given the “existence of temporal continuity” and the fact that the third applicant had still been detained). The Constitutional Court’s decision of 8 October 2009 concerned the detention order of 1 June 2009.
25.  On 9 June 2011 the Constitutional Court rejected the first, second and third applicants’ appeal regarding the length of their detention following the adoption of the District Court’s decision of 10 July 2009.
26.  On 31 July 2009 PN filed a criminal complaint alleging police abuse. On 6 December 2010 the public prosecutor rejected this complaint for lack of evidence that a crime had been committed.
27.  On 31 December 2010 the Novi Sad High Court informed the Government that the fourth and fifth applicants’ DNA samples remained stored in the Novi Sad Forensic Medicine Institute. It further noted that there was no specific legislation on the storage, usage and destruction of DNA material. No such material could therefore be destroyed in the absence of a court decision to this effect.